Sweet Potato & Kale Brown Rice Wrap (gluten free, dairy free, egg free)

I woke up this morning and immediately had my sights set on developing a gluten free recipe using sweet potato, dinosaur kale, and brown rice wraps. Three players in my story. Read on.

Marriage is in the air. Our youngest daughter is getting married to a most wonderful young man next fall and we are smack in the middle of wedding preparation flurry. Next on the agenda: wedding dress!

Speaking of weddings, part of the fun of reading gluten free recipes is letting the gestalt of the recipe sift onto your culinary consciouness and hang out there for awhile. If you're lucky, you take a little from this gluten free recipe and a little from that gluten free recipe and a smidge from another gluten free recipe, and you arrange a blind date. And if you're lucky, your matchmaking skills come to fruition, a wedding takes place, and a new gluten free recipe is born. That's what happened. Pull up a chair and I'll tell you the story.

Once upon a time, there were about a katrillion food bloggers writing about squash. It's no wonder. They're an autumn staple. The sizes and shapes and colors dazzle the eye. My new obsession - Blue Hubbard Squash. Sweet and tender. "You have a hard time cutting squash," you say? Stick around. Sometime in the next few weeks, I plan on posting about a secret way I've discovered for easily cutting through the outer layer of squash.

Hmmm, where was I? Let's see, oh yes, love is in the air. So, I was thinking about inviting squash to be a major player in the blind date I was arranging. But there were two medium-sized sweet potatos sitting on my counter vying for my attention. And since they're both orange, squash and sweet potato, I didn't think I'd make waves if I went with the little tuber that was calling my name.

I could've roasted the little babies. But I went with steaming because I wanted to make the recipe as oil-free as possible. Don't get me wrong. There's a time and place for it. But lately, with a great deal of inspiration from the Happy Healthy Long Life blog, I've been cooking with far less fat than I used to. I've discovered that the flavors in the ingredients I use are often more potent when I don't use fat. I wouldn't have believed it myself if I hadn't had experience after experience with reducing the fat in my cooking and ending up with superlative flavors.

And kale. Dinosaur kale, to be exact. A bumpy, long-leaved elegant vegetable, a beautiful green-bordering-on-black member of the cruciferous family. Equally delicious raw or cooked.

It was love at first sight. Both parties were delighted with the introduction. After only one date, one date I tell you, we had the wedding. And it couldn't have been more perfect.

Sweet potato and kale were the bride and groom. Or maybe they were bride and bride. Or groom and groom. However you slice it, the two couldn't have been happier. The wedding guests were clearly overjoyed to be part of the festivities. We all had a blast at the reception. And everyone lived happily ever after. The End.

Sweet Potato & Kale Brown Rice Wraps

click here for printable recipe

2 medium-sized sweet potatoes, sliced 1/4” thick
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 lime, juiced (save 1 tsp for avocado)
1/2 tsp maple syrup
2 scallions, finely chopped
1 head dinosaur kale, cut into ribbons, steamed or made in a pressure cooker
2 tbsp golden raisins
1 whole garlic clove
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
smidge olive oil
1 portabello mushroom, sliced 1/4” thick
Vegetable spray or olive oil, optional
1 Trader Joe’s or Food For Life gluten free brown rice wrap
1/2 avocado, cubed and lightly dressed with 1 tsp of the lime juice

Steam the sweet potatoes until tender. Drain and rinse to stop the cooking. Set aside. When cooled, coarsely mash with the back of a wooden spoon. Add the turmeric, cumin, coriander, sea salt, lime juice, maple syrup, scallions. Mix until thoroughly combined.

Steam or pressure cook the kale. If using pressure cooker, combine in pressure cooker with 1 cup water, 2 tbsp golden raisins, 1 garlic clove, cinnamon, bring to high pressure, cook for 2 minutes, quick release the pressure, drain. Add to the sweet potato mixture and blend well.

Heat a smidge of olive oil in a saute pan and grill the mushroom slices for one minute. Flip and grill for another minute. Set aside.

Heat a saute pan over medium-high heat. While the pan is heating, quickly run cold water over the brown rice wrap. Let excess water drip off the wrap. Place it in the heated pan and cook about 30 seconds on each side. The wrap will stick to the pan if you heat them oil-free. In that case, carefully loosen the wrap with a firm spatula. Alternatively, use vegetable spray or olive oil to lightly grease the pan before heating the wrap.

Remove the wrap from the pan. Place on a cutting board. Spread about 1/3 cup of the sweet potato mixture onto one half of the wrap. Add the grilled mushrooms and avocado. Turn the other half of the wrap over the vegetables and press firmly.

At this point, the sandwich is ready to dive into. You can also put it back into the pan and heat it for about 30 seconds per side, with or without a touch of olive oil. Flip the sandwich gingerly.

The major inspiration for this recipe came from Valerie from City/Life/Eats and The Cancer-Fighting Kitchen cookbook by Rebecca Katz (fabulous cookbook!). I am a major fan!

This post is linked to The Gluten-Free Homemakers Gluten-Free Wednesdays, My Sweet and Savory's Meatless Monday, Hey What's For Dinner Mom's Meatless Monday, Simply Sugar and Gluten Free's Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, All The Small Stuff's Tuesday At The Table, and Diet, Dessert & Dog's SOS Kitchen Challenge for November.